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Would you be in favour of your committee imposing penalties for slow play?

Are yo in favour of penalties for slow play?

  • Yes

    Votes: 40 59.7%
  • No

    Votes: 27 40.3%

  • Total voters
    67

Imurg

The Grinder Of Pars (Semi Crocked)
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Mar 15, 2008
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Played today.
Me and Fragger were held up most of the way round. Firstly by a mixed 4-ball, then by a hacking 4-ball and finally by a 2 ball that couldn't be bothered to push the 3 ball in front of them so ended up holding us up too.

However, none of these groups were playing slowly.
They were just playing slower than us.
So the problem wasn't slow play, it was not letting following groups through - simple as that.

We got round in about 3 hours - a bit longer than we expected for a 2-ball but not slow and we must have spent half-an-hour waiting.

So education of the masses of Golfers out there who have very little concept of letting through is a must and will solve most of the problems.
 

Billysboots

Falling apart at the seams
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If someone wants to play slowly but calls people through or goes off at the end of the field, why should they be penalised?

It may be you clarified this opinion further down the thread, Bob, and I apologise if that's the case, but I do find your stance a little surprising! The mere act of calling groups through slows the field down, and having the courtesy to do it does not necessarily excuse the slow play to begin with. If someone "wants" to play slowly then, with respect, they should not be entering competitions.

It is not all about racing round, but making an effort to ensure you are not out there for hours. I voted "yes" in the poll, primarily because I do not ever want to find myself at the tail end of a field in a medal and be out on the course for nearly six hours, which has happened at our place more than once.

We have an issue with slow play in competitions towards the end of the field at our place, but an even bigger problem with a committee which are clueless about running competitions from making the draw to posting the results. They are an utter shambles, due in the main to the competition chairman himself, who is not actually a golfer. He plays a handful of rounds a year and does not really understand the finer points of competition golf.

We are a proprietorship club, and as such have pay and players out in front of competition fields. That is the first problem, and whilst I accept it is not of the committee's making, how they have tried to broach the issue of slow play has been nothing short of farcical. We have had the comp chairman, dishing out cards on a Saturday morning, with a splendid A4 sign on his table advising members "Slow play will be penalised". For months we have been asking him to both define slow play and then tell us what sanctions will be imposed, and he has done neither.

We have had an advisory memo from the Captain which says anyone who takes over 4 hours 15 minutes for a competitive round will be subject to further scrutiny. Hello! If the last group of pay and players out in front of the competition field on a Saturday morning take 4 hours 20 minutes, that's a lot of work for the committee!

We have had advice not to putt out in stablefords when we cannot score (common sense, but not everyone seems to grasp it), and yet still on HowDidIDo I see golfers holing out for 8's and 9's. In a competition in the summer our handicap chairman, no less, holed out for an 11 in a bogey event. Talk about setting a good example.

We need to start by having a 2 tee time gap in front of our first group, then setting that group a realistic time to get round depending on the conditions and the nature of the event. Then every subsequent group should be tasked with finishing no more than 12 minutes (one and a half tee times) behind the group in front. Not bomb proof by way of a cure, but a simple, realistic and achievable starting point.
 

Slab

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Worth pointing out though that 8 minutes is the minimum recomended gap after a 2 ball, not the standard or default gap (with at least 10 minutes if following a 3/4 ball)

Doesn't happen at my course when the next group are encouraged to tee off when the guys in front are out of range

Therefore signs of slow play starts on the 1st green/2nd tee when in fact it might not even exist!
 
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